


Slices of life

by Fifionline



Series: Dennis' adventures [2]
Category: The Smoke (TV)
Genre: Angst, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-11
Updated: 2016-04-11
Packaged: 2018-06-01 16:52:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6528238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fifionline/pseuds/Fifionline
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Short scenes of what happens in the life of Dennis and his girlfriend. Dates, fights, good and bad moments together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Slices of life

**Author's Note:**

> The writing style of this story is a bit different from the others but I hope that you'll still like it. This was written in answer to a prompt I received on Tumblr "Maybe you could write a middle part to your lovely Dennis imagines? Like what happened in between their first date and his marriage proposal? I’d love to read about their second and third date, when things get a little more serious, but not yet as serious as having a baby, moving in together or getting married. The stuff in the beginning is always so exciting!"

After this first date, many other follow.

 

The second time, they go to the cinema together. Dennis chooses a horror movie on purpose, expecting Ashley to spend most of the time gripping his hand and hiding her face in his chest as he protects her with his arm on her shoulder. Well, he still has a lot to learn about her, because she might be small and kind but she's not afraid of watching people get killed with machetes on a big screen. So much for Dennis' big plan.

 

But they still have a good time there and even if she isn't afraid, they still hold hands during the whole movie. So, there's that.

 

They see each other almost daily after that. Even if it's just for a coffee or to hang out in the park or at Ashley's house. Dennis feels like he needs her and on the days when they can't meet, he feels her absence like a vacuum in his chest. Hollow.

 

One time, as they hang out at her house again, she points out that they never went to his place and he doesn't know how to tell her that he's kind of ashamed of living in Churchill estate. He stays silent for a bit, his mouth opening to answer and closing as he can't find the right words. But she seems to understand him without the need to speak.

 

\- "Is it cause you live in a council flat? Cause you don't have to be embarrassed about that Den', I knew where you lived before I agreed to be your girlfriend and it didn't stop me." She states when he doesn't answer. "I don't care 'bout where you live, I care 'bout you is all."

 

He doesn't know what to reply so he just smiles and kisses her passionately. Dennis is usually not good with words but he can let his body do the talking with Ashley. They understand each other with a simple look or a touch. That day, they have sex together for the first time. It's rushed and isn't perfect, but for Dennis it kind of is. Because it's Ashley.

 

They quickly become inseparable and with time, Ashley's parents and Dennis' mom get used to see them hanging together at their place. The only nights they spend apart are the ones Dennis has to be on watch at the station. Sometimes, he wakes up screaming in the middle of the night though. Ashley knows that something is wrong with him but he doesn't want to speak about it even when she insists. The thing is, he's still haunted by what happened with the fire. The night that changed his life. The night Rosa's baby died.

 

He never talks about it and even if most of the people living in the estate suspect that he was involved alongside with Gog, nobody would ever dare to talk about it either. But remorse is killing him and one day, when Ashley insists on knowing what's going on with him for the umpteenth time, he just tells her. He tells her how Gog lit the fire, how he wanted to save the baby but couldn't, how he joined the station after that and how he has tried to make amends since then. He's shaking and keeping his head low but he can't stop talking now that he's started. So he also tells her about those times he wanted to go to the police and confess to everything. But in the end, Kev had told him not to, cause he was different.

He was a good man.

 

He laughs bitterly at that thought before continuing. He can't even look Ash in the eyes. All of Kev's word didn't prevent him from wanting to kill himself for what he did. Numerous times. He wanted to die in that tunnel, when he crossed above the truck in flames to go look for Trish. He kinda hated Kev for saving him at the time.

 

When he's done talking, he hears Ashley get up of her chair and he looks up to watch her through his tears. She's crying too, silently, and he's sure that it's the last time he's gonna see her.

 

\- "Don't go Ash, please, don't leave me." He begs between sobs.

\- "It's...a lot to take in Den'." She begins slowly.

\- "Forgive me, please. I should have died, I should have..." He's becoming incoherent when Ashley finally comes closer to him.

\- "I don't wish you dead but..." She trails off and cups his chin to force him to look at her. "It's not my place to forgive you either. You need to forgive yourself and I need time to process all this."

 

She kisses him on the forehead and then she's gone.

 

The following week is the longest of Dennis' life. He wants to give Ashley space, but he's so afraid that she'll never come back that he can't think about anything else. He hurts himself at work cause he's not cautious enough during a fire and ends up in the E.R before they send him home for the rest of the week and he can't even begin to care about what's happening to him. He stops eating and spends his days in bed, just laying there with the blinds closed.

 

When the doorbell rings one afternoon, he's well set on staying just where he is and let whoever is at the door go to hell. Until he hears Ashley's voice calling for him. He jumps out of bed and he's at the door in under a minute. When he opens it, she's there, a shy look on her face.

 

\- "Can I come in?" She asks, seemingly hesitant about it. "Your mom told me you'd be here."

\- "Oh, you talked to my mom..." He stutters, leading her to the living room.

\- "She worries about you Den' and now that I see you, I understand why." She says, stroking his cheek gently. He can't help leaning into her touch. "You're so pale, you look like a ghost." She sighs.

\- "Look Ash, I tried my best to give you space this week but I can't live like this anymore. I need to know if it's over between us. I can't...I won't..." He stops, at a loss for words that could express how he feels right now.

\- "I love you Dennis." She states taking both his hands in hers. "I felt miserable without you this week too and I don't wanna feel like that no more. I want you. All of you. Dark parts included."

 

Dennis' heart misses a beat as he looks at her. He heard what she said but his brain doesn't seem to process the words. She wants to be with him. She wants him. She loves him. And as his heart resume his beating in his chest, faster than before, he takes her into his arms and holds her tight thinking that he won't let go of her. Not this afternoon, not later, not ever.

 

When Ashley gets pregnant after only 6 month of them being together, the question of keeping the baby doesn't even come up. They're keeping her and they're gonna raise her together whatever happens. Dennis is so scared of repeating his dad's mistakes that he has a major crisis about it. But Ashley is there to help him out of it as usual. He's not afraid of showing his soft side around her even if he still have some anger issues from time to time.

 

He fights like a madman to get them their own flat and manages to do so during Ash's third pregnancy month. Living together is not bliss everyday and they face new problems but together they stand and fight to make it work. For themselves and for the baby.

 

Dennis is there when Ashley wants a pint of Ben & Jerry's at 3 in the morning, he's there when the hormones make her cry over a dead pigeon on the sidewalk and he's also there for all the important doctor's appointments. When they hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time at the OBGyn his eyes grow like flying saucers and he can't stop kissing Ashley's hand. She strokes his hair gently, smiles and doesn't comment on the fact that she can feel his tears falling on her hand as he lets emotion overtake him. He can't get over the fact that he's gonna be a dad soon, that his little princess is growing in the belly of the woman of his life. What did he do to deserve such happiness?

 

But life isn't always that rosy, sometimes it can be stressful. When the day was especially hard on him, when he had someone die in his arms, when he couldn't save someone even while risking his own life. On those days, when Dennis comes home smelling strongly of smoke and he goes to shower even if he did already at the station, Ashley learned not to talk to him first. On those days, he stays extra long under the spray and cries. He thinks she can't hear him but she does. On those days, when Dennis is finally ready to tell her about what happened, he does and she just listens, petting his hair and holding him in her arms. A reassuring, steady presence after all the horrors he has witnessed at work.

 

And when she finally goes into labor, Dennis is there through the whole process, holding her hand and encouraging her even when she begins to lose it because of the pain and insults him. Very inventively he dares to say aloud, which earns him a strong slap on the arm and more insults. But when the baby is finally brought to them and they put her on Ashley's chest, they both stay silent. There's no need for words as they both look at her little hairless wrinkled head and think that it's the most beautiful thing they've seen in their lives. Dennis brushes Ash's hair out of her sweaty forehead with his thumb and kisses her there, his other hand clasped around hers, holding the baby. 

 

Ashley was his rock in the storm, his safe heaven, his whole world. And his world has just extended. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry guys, I love to make this poor Dennis suffer but in the end I ship him with happiness! =D


End file.
